Blind Boys and Clever Girls
by TheRealMaraJade
Summary: During his summer holidays before his fifth year at Hogwarts, Harry learns that his best friends' relationship has changed, while finally noticing Ginny, who has changed as well.
1. Blind Boys and Clever Girls - Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or anything related. Jo Rowling owns them. No money is being made with this, so please don't sue me! 

I'd like to thank Del and Courtney for their help back when I wrote the first draft of this fic, and I'd also like to thank my SugarQuill beta-reader Lallybroch for her help, patience, and insightful comments regarding this fic. Thank you, girls! :)

Chapter 1 

Harry Potter was never excited about his summer holidays, but this summer he was feeling even worse than usual. And not because he had to spend it in the company of the terrible Dursleys, who were the only family he had, but also because he'd rather be in the thick of things; he'd rather be as close to the magical world as possible, now that Lord Voldemort was back. 

But we are getting ahead of ourselves. If you don't know who Harry Potter is you are either a Muggle or an underage wizard Muggle-born, and you won't enjoy our story at all (in case you are wondering, Muggles are non-magical people). So I suggest you go and find out exactly who Harry Potter is before reading this story. Trust me, it's for your own good, especially now that Lord Voldemort is back. 

Harry is an underage wizard who is about to attend his fifth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He was raised by his very nasty Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia, who are completely terrified by anything slightly odd and out of normal, like magic. And because of that the only link Harry could have with the magical word during the summer holidays was thru his owl, Hedwig, who delivered Harry's letters to his best friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. 

That usually made Harry's summer vacation more bearable, but this year nothing could make him feel better. Lord Voldemort, a powerful Dark Wizard who had killed Harry's parents when he was only one year old, and had failed when trying to kill Harry (and losing all his powers in the process while Harry remained intact except for a scar shaped as a lightning bolt on his forehead), was back. 

It was only on the last week of his summer holidays that Harry was able to go to the Burrow, and only after much insistence on Mrs. Weasley's part towards Professor Dumbledore. 

Much to Mr. Weasley's delight, he and Ron had gone to pick Harry up using the Muggle train (Mr. Weasley was very fond of Muggle inventions). When Harry arrived, Hermione was already there. Not that this was a surprise to Harry; Ron had said about a week ago in one of his letters that Hermione had arrived for the holidays already. But what had been a very delightful surprise was that when they entered the house to find Hermione waiting for them, Ron didn't get a hug from her like Harry did. Instead of the hug, Ron was given a very quick and shy kiss. Not on his cheeks, but on his lips. That caused both Ron and Hermione's faces to turn a very deep shade of red. 

Harry looked dumbstruck, but quickly recovered. "So. You two have finally figured out that all that bickering of yours had a deeper meaning, huh?" He said, a smile starting to spread over his face. For a while Harry suspected that there was more to his best friends' relationship than met the eye. Especially after the heated discussion they had the year before, after the Yule Ball, when Ron had been completely and totally jealous because Hermione had gone to the ball with Viktor Krum, a very famous Quidditch player. 

Both Ron and Hermione went scarlet, while Mr. Weasley gave them a huge smile and went to the kitchen to warn his wife that Harry had arrived. 

"You mean you _knew this already, Harry?" Hermione said, casting a nasty look at Ron, "I thought we had agreed that we would tell him __together!" Hermione hissed at him. _

Ron went very pale, "'Mione, I...I didn't tell him. Really." 

Harry decided to question Ron about that nickname later, since at the moment helping his best friend seemed a better choice for a course of action. "Don't worry, Hermione, he didn't tell me anything...I had already noticed that you two fancied each other." 

"You did?" both asked, startled. 

"Well, everybody did," said Ginny, who had just entered the living room with her mother. "Hi, Harry." Ginny was Ron's youngest sister, and the only girl in a house with six boys. 

"Hi, Ginny," Harry answered. At the sight of Ginny, immediately Harry thought that Ginny had really grown up in the last few months. His next thought was about the possible reason why he had even thought that in the first place. "Hi, Mrs. Weasley." 

"Hello, Harry, it's good to see you," Mrs. Weasley said and scuttled over to him to give him a big hug. "Are you alright? Feeling OK? Did anything unusual happen while you were with the Dursleys?" she asked, holding Harry at arm's length. 

Harry knew that Mrs. Weasley was only doing that because she was really worried about him. She, like everybody else who knew Harry (well, except the Dursleys) was worried about Voldemort's return and about what he would try to do against him. "Yes, I'm fine, Mrs. Weasley. And no, nothing unusual happened." 

"Very well then," she glanced at Ron and Hermione holding hands, and said, smiling at Harry while tilting her head towards her son, "I'll let you catch up with your friends then."

When she had left for the kitchen again, telling them that dinner would be ready in about half an hour, Ron turned to Ginny and Harry. "What do you mean by 'everybody did'?" 

"Exactly that," said Harry, dryly. "It was pretty obvious that you were jealous of Hermione going to the ball with Krum, not only because of the fights you had during the ball, after the ball, and during Snape's class over that Rita Skeeter article, but also because later I found a toy's arm under my bed. Your Viktor Krum figurine's arm." Rita Skeeter was a very annoying reporter who had given Harry a bit of trouble last year. She had even written an article where she said that Hermione was using Love Potions on Harry and Viktor Krum. 

Ron's ears became slightly pink, while Hermione stared at him and said, "You ripped Viktor's arm off?" 

"Well, it was not the real Viktor," he said, and then added in a whisper, "Although I wished it really was that stupid git at the time." 

Harry and Ginny laughed, but Hermione scowled, "Ron!" 

"But tell me; when did you start dating?" Harry asked, a huge smile splitting his face. 

Ron and Hermione looked at each other, not so sure of how much they really wanted to reveal to Harry and Ginny. But the fact that Harry was their best friend and that they would never ever be able to keep anything from him was clear in their eyes. 

Harry watched their silent exchange amused; he never thought that Ron and Hermione would be able to talk and agree about something without a fight first, but now they were actually reaching an obvious agreement without even saying a word! 

"Well...Do you remember the day following the Yule Ball, Harry?" Ron asked, shyly. "How Hermione and I were acting towards each other?" 

After a few minutes thinking, Harry nodded. "Yeah. You seemed to have reached an unspoken agreement over your argument. And even though you were quite friendly with each other, you were oddly formal." 

"That's because Ron kissed Hermione that night!" Ginny piped in, grinning. 

"Ginny!" Ron said, angrily. He looked like he had just taken a Pepper-Up potion from Madam Pomfrey, the matron responsible for the Hogwarts infirmary. Harry wondered if Ron's reaction was due to embarrassment or anger towards his sister. Probably both. 

"You _kissed Hermione that night?" Harry was bewildered. _

"Yeah," Ron said, still looking at Ginny annoyed. He looked even more embarassed if possible, and added in almost a whisper. "You see, after we had that fight at the common room, I couldn't sleep, and so around 2 AM I went downstairs to find that Hermione couldn't sleep either..." 

"...Then we started fighting again and, before I knew what was happening, Ron kissed me!" Hermione finished, a little flustered. "You can imagine how surprised I was." Hermione was giggling. Harry couldn't believe his own eyes. Hermione was GIGGLING! She reminded him of Lavender talking about Seamus. 

"As surprised as I was," Ron said, hugging Hermione to his side and giving her a kiss on the forehead, while she continued to tell Harry their story. "Anyway, after the kiss, we practically run towards our dormitories, and next day we were acting oddly formal because we were – well – feeling uncomfortable with each other, and we didn't want anyone else to notice that anything had happened between us." 

"Until that day in Snape's lesson when the _Witch Weekly article came out, saying that Krum had invited Hermione to Bulgaria," Ron said. _

Hermione smiled, "I can still remember you hammering mercilessly on your poor desk instead of your scarab beetles." 

"After that," Ron continued, his ears rather pink, "we just had to sit down and sort out what was happening between us, and we did it on the same night you went to find out what was the Triwizard Tournament's Third Task about." 

Hermione glanced at Ron. "Hey, that was what _I told you. The talk was __my idea." _

"Of course it was your idea, 'Mione," Ron tucked a stray of her hair neatly under her ear, "After all, you are a know-it-all." 

"Ron!" Hermione glared at him. "You promised me you wouldn't call me that anymore!" 

"No, I promised I wouldn't tease you with it anymore, and I'm not. I'm just telling the truth," Ron said, a twinkle of laughter in his eyes. "Anyway," he continued before Hermione could answer, "when she asked me about the reason I had acted like that on Snape's class, I told her that I – that I –" 

"That he liked me. And I told him I felt the same way about him. And – we started dating," Hermione finished in a rush, her face very red. Ginny was smiling, looking at Hermione and her brother. 

Harry, however, looked hurt. "But then, if you have been dating since that day, why didn't you tell me?" 

Ron and Hermione exchanged quick, apprehensive looks, and she said, "Because of all that stuff happening: first Mr. Crouch disappeared at the border of the Forbidden Forest..." 

"...Then your Scar hurt again and you found out all that stuff at Dumbledore's Pensieve," Ron continued. 

Hermione added, "Also, you were worried about the Third Task and we were helping you study for it, when we also had to study for our own end-of-term exams." 

Ron nodded, "And then it finally came the night of the Third Task and we hadn't told you yet." 

"And you had gone through so much pain that night. We didn't find it right to spring our happy news on you. We – we thought you would feel even worse," Hermione completed, a slight pink flush on her cheeks. 

Ron frowned, "No we didn't. _You thought Harry fancied you because he never really complained about Rita Skeeter's articles. __And you didn't want to make him feel worse by telling him you liked me, not him." _

Harry had to restrain himself not to laugh at that or at Hermione's scarlet face. "Hermione, don't take me wrong, but I only didn't make a fuss over Rita Skeeter's article because I knew that, if I did, Ron would be even angrier at me and never talk to me again!" 

"Why would I be angrier at you?" Ron asked, remembering that he wasn't talking to Harry around the time Rita Skeeter's first article alluding to a possible romantic involvement between Harry and Hermione had appeared. 

With an unexplainable nervous glance at Ginny, who was still watching her brother and Hermione with a bemused expression on her face, Harry said, "Well, because you would think I fancied Hermione and would be jealous just like you were about Krum." 

"Oh," Ron exclaimed, in a loss of better words to say. 

"Children, dinner is ready!" Mrs. Weasley called from the kitchen. 

They entered the kitchen, and by the time George and Fred arrived from their room, they were already seated on the table. George and Fred were Ron's twin brothers, and easily the clowns of the family. They were going to start their last year at Hogwarts and, unlike their older brothers who all had respectable jobs (in Mrs. Weasley's opinion), they were thinking of opening a joke shop after they left school. 

"Hi, Harry! Have you seen how our little brother has matured?" Fred said, sitting at Harry's left side. 

"Yeah! He has a girlfriend now!" George was sitting at Harry's other side "We are SO proud of him," he continued, in a clear imitation of his mother's voice. 

"Fred and George, stop teasing your brother!" Mrs. Weasley said angrily, although Harry suspected that she was angrier with them for imitating her than mocking Ron. "Don't you think you should do something better with your time – like studying for the N.E.W.T.s in order to get you both a decent job when you graduate from Hogwarts?" 

"We are working on it, Mum," George said, a very serious expression on his face that couldn't completely hide the amusement concealed in his eyes. 

"Well, at least on getting a job after we graduate from Hogwats. I'm not sure my mother would call a joke shop decent, though," Fred whispered at Harry's ears, out of Mrs. Weasley vision. 

During the rest of dinner, nothing too important happened (unless you consider Fred and George putting a Canary Cream on Ron's food and therefore turning him into a giant yellow canary important) and they spent the whole meal talking about what they would do in their last week before term started. And due to Hermione's constant reminder that they needed to get their books for next term as soon as possible in order to study before term started, they decided they would go to Diagon Alley the following day. When they stopped talking, it was very late, and all the Weasleys, Harry, and Hermione went to bed. 


	2. Blind Boys and Clever Girls - Chapter 2

**Chapter 2 **

The Weasleys, Harry and Hermione went to Diagon Alley very early on the following day (much to the dismay of Ron, who wasn't a morning person) to buy all the new things they needed for the new term, like books, extra quills and parchment, and potions ingredients. During the whole day, since Ron and Hermione were kind of on a world of their own, Harry spent most of his time with Ginny. Not that he had anything to complain about it. He soon found out he actually enjoyed Ginny's company. She was pretty funny, and kept teasing Ron about how bedazzled he looked around the newly appointed Gryffindor Prefect Hermione Granger (something Harry had found out the previous night when he and Ron had gone to bed). Ginny's teasing made Ron very angry while making Harry laugh really hard, which in turn made Ron even angrier. And the fact that Ginny was funny wasn't the only thing Harry had noticed. Once again he marvelled at how much Ginny had grown-up since the first time he had seen her at Platform 9 ¾ at King Cross's station, where he was supposed to go into the train to his first year at Hogwarts. But then again, she was only ten years old then; now she was fourteen years old, only a year younger than Harry. Of course, he quickly dismissed these thoughts every time they popped up in his head during all day, only to reappear once more a few moments later. 

When they arrived at the Burrow later that afternoon, all of them carrying a lot of bags but not as many bags as Hermione (who seemed to have bought the entire stack of Flourish and Blotts), the boys decided to play some Quidditch before dinner. One of the main reasons for that was that Ron was really hoping to join the Gryffindor House Team this year (the Keeper position was available since the previous Gryffindor Keeper and Captain of the team Oliver Wood had graduated). A few hours later, they were all gathered around the table for dinner when Mr. Weasley Apparated from his office, looking exhausted.

Mrs. Weasley stopped yelling at the boys about their unwashed hands at once, and looked at her husband with a grimace on her face, "How was work today, Arthur? You look pretty tired –," She said sounding concerned. 

Mr. Weasley sat on the table and sighed. "Molly, you know that those of us at the Ministry who believe that You-Know-Who has come back are working as hard as we can in secrecy after hours to assure that we will be ready for him this time. Also," Mr. Weasley gave Harry a quick and worried glance, "we had to figure out how we could improve the security at Hogwarts. Some suggested that we used Dementors," and here he gave an almost imperceptible glance at Ginny, "but we know that, since on the year before last they almost performed their mortal Kiss on a simple student, we can't choose them. Besides, Dumbledore believes they will be among You-Know-Who supporters anyway. So we still haven't decided what we are going to do about it." 

With that, the table fell silent, most of them thinking about the events on the end of last term at Hogwarts. Cedric Diggory's death and the return of Lord Voldemort were definetly the worst ones. But the parting of ways between Professor Dumbledore and the Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge, who had refused to believe that Voldemort had risen again and to warn the wizard community, also came to mind. 

But Harry wasn't thinking about that, even though he should be the most concerned about Lord Voldemort's return. He had noticed Mr. Weasley's almost imperceptible glance towards Ginny. And since Mr. Weasley probably wouldn't tell Harry anything, he decided he should question Ginny about it later, and he kept glancing at her constantly during dinner, until Ginny glanced at him and their eyes locked; Harry decided it was best not to look so much at her after that. 

After the dessert, the twins, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley went to their bedrooms, while Ron and Hermione went to the Burrow's backyard " – to look at the stars – " according to a surprisingly giggling Hermione. That allowed Harry to approach Ginny safely, since he wasn't so sure Ron would like to see him talking to his little sister, especially because Ginny had had a crush on Harry since the first time they met. 

"So, Ginny," Harry stammered, not sure what to say next, or how to ask Ginny about Mr. Weasley behavior during dinner, "Are you enjoying your summer holidays so far?" He had catch up with her before she also went to her bedroom at the living room. 

Ginny looked at Harry, suspiciously, without blushing like she used to whenever he talked to her during her first years at Hogwarts, "As much as possible knowing that Voldemort is back." 

Harry looked at Ginny quite surprised. "I thought none of you Weasleys liked to call Voldemort by his name." Harry fell on the couch, rather than sat, still surprised, "I myself have been reminded countless times by your brother to call him You-Know-Who." 

"Well, I was almost killed by him on my first year at school." She said, sitting down on the couch close to Harry. "Why shouldn't I call him by his name? He almost killed me; but I survived, thanks to you." 

Ginny grinned, her eyes sparkling for a moment before her face took a more serious expression. "He almost killed me Harry. The first thing I did when I came back to school on my second year was to find out everything I could about him. It was the least I could do after all the danger I put everybody through because I was such a stupid girl." Ginny had a sad and distant expression on her face then. Harry suspected she hadn't forgiven herself yet for the events on her first year at Hogwarts, when unwillingly she had helped Lord Voldemort open the Chamber of Secrets again and release a very dangerous snake (more precisely a Basilisk) that could have killed any person at Hogwarts. "This knowledge will help me deal with him if I ever happen to meet him again, but only if I manage to control my fear. And that was very clear to me, especially after meeting the Dementors on our way to Hogwarts," she shuddered. 

"I don't understand..." Harry looked really puzzled. What did the Dementors, the guards of the wizard prison Azkaban, had anything to do with it? 

Ginny risked a glance at Harry and then looked at her hands on her lap, "Sure you don't. You passed out when the Dementors entered our cabin, but even though I didn't pass out, I was also affected by them." 

An understanding look settled on Harry's face, "I remember now...Your brother told me that you had been shaking like mad when the Dementor appeared." 

"Yeah." Ginny sighed, "That's because I was forced to remember when Tom Riddle led me to the Chamber of Secrets and then appeared in front of me right before I fainted. It was horrible. And when the Dementors entered during your Quidditch match against Hufflepuff I felt the same thing." She looked at Harry from the corner of her eyes, and continued in a rush, "So, when I discovered that Professor Lupin was helping you with the Dementors, I also asked him for help. You're not the only one who is able to conjure up a Patronus, you know..." And once again her eyes were sparkling, while he looked at Harry with a grin on her face. He could detect some pride on her voice. 

After a while, Harry added, "Wait, wait a minute...How did you know that Professor Lupin helped me?" 

Ginny once again focused on her hands. "Ron accidentally told me during one of the nights you were off Gryffindor Tower with Professor Lupin for practice. After that, I told Professor Lupin about what I felt around the Dementors, as well as what had happened during my first year at Hogwarts. And after much insistence on my part, he finally agreed to help me by teaching me how to conjure up a Patronus." She finished, almost whispering. 

Harry couldn't believe his own ears. "You actually _know how to conjure up a Patronus? What does your Patronus look like?" He asked, eagerly and excited at the same time. _

She blushed for the first time since they began talking. "That doesn't really matter, does it?" 

Harry was curious to know about Ginny's Patronus, but he also needed some time to digest all that Ginny had told him. Suddenly, a thought occurred to him, "Why did you tell me all that?" 

Ginny said simply, "I noticed how you were eyeing me during dinner after Dad had glanced at me when he mentioned the Dementors. I knew you wanted to know what that was all about, and I thought I would spare you the trouble of approaching this..." she thought for a moment, and then added, sarcastically, "rather delicate subject for me." 

Harry just loved when Ginny had that mischievous air about her. And on the heels of that thought, Harry wondered if he had just said _loved. "Oh. Your Dad know about all that, then?" _

"Not really. He just knows I felt bad when the Dementors entered the Hogwarts Express, and that's only because Ron sent him an owl about that." Ginny laughed a bit. "Dad had asked my brothers to keep an eye on me; after all, I had almost died the previous year, and he didn't want to take any chances." 

They were silent for a few moments. Harry was thinking how blind and stupid and thick he had been for not realizing before that Ginny was the only person in the world besides himself that had had a near death experience with Lord Voldemort and had lived to tell. Maybe she could be the only person on the world capable of understanding him. And, more importantly, he was possibly the only person capable to help her deal with it and he hadn't done it for the past _two years! _

Sure the situations were different. Harry had lost both parents and survived only because his mother had died to save him. Ginny had been manipulated by Voldemort's younger self – Tom Riddle –, forced to do things she didn't remembered doing afterwards, risked the life of some Hogwarts students – among them Hermione –, and almost lost her life, but in the end she was saved by him, Harry Potter. 

Heck, thinking about it, he had to admit that her experience had been worst than his own. He was only a baby when all that happened, while Ginny was eleven-years old at the time and had understood all that she was going through. All that could've happened. She actually ended up thinking that she was evil, and she had had to cope with that on her own. The only time she tried to talk to someone about it, Percy had dismissed her supposed secret because he was pretty sure it involved him, his girlfriend Penelope, and an empty classroom. Not that Percy had told Harry, Ron and Hermione exactly what he thought that Ginny wanted to talk about with them, but that didn't matter at the moment. 

Harry could sympathize with what Ginny had gone through; not only because at that same year he was believed to be the Heir of Slytherin and the one responsible for the Chamber of Secrets opening simply because he was a Parselmouth, which troubled his mind to no end, but also because the Sorting Hat almost had put him in Slytherin on his own Sorting. And, even though nobody had died when Ginny opened the Chamber of Secrets, it was a very near miss, and she clearly blamed herself for that, a feeling that Harry shared. He often blamed himself by the deaths of his parents, especially his mother (if she hadn't got in Voldemort's way to prevent him killing Harry, she could still be alive), and the death of Cedric. 

Harry sympathized with Ginny. He knew how she probably had felt around that time, how she probably still felt. And he never had thought about it, always regarding her as Ron's little sister who had had a crush on him since the first time they had met, and who had shrieked every time she met him on his first visit to the Burrow. And if he sympathized and understood her, he knew that the same could be said about her towards him. 

Not even Ron or Hermione had the kind of experience or insight that Ginny had. Sure they had gone with him after the Philosopher's Stone, but they never faced Voldemort there. Ron also had gone with Harry to the Chamber of Secrets to help save his sister (Hermione was petrified at the Hogwarts infirmary at that time), but once again he didn't face Voldemort. Not that his best friends were unwilling to face him; Harry knew they would have if they could. After all, when they had been confronted with Sirius Black, whom they believed to be a traitor and a murderer who wanted to kill Harry, Ron had said that to kill Harry Sirius would have to kill all the three of them. Of course that wasn't necessary; at that time they discovered that Sirius wasn't Voldemort's spy – in fact, he was Harry's Godfather. But neither Ron nor Hermione had faced Voldemort. The only people that had, besides Harry, were his parents and Cedric (well, sort of) who were dead now, and little and helpless Ginny, whom Harry had completely overlooked even after the episode at the Chamber of Secrets. 

But then, for the first time, Harry finally saw that Ginny wasn't so little – Harry had to admit that she was becoming really cute – and definitely not helpless: she, like himself, was only a teenager, but a very brave teenager who had been forced to deal with things and situations that should be dealt with only by adults. They were no longer kids; they had grown older and wiser. Harry was no longer the boy who had felt embarrassed by receiving a Valentine's card from a girl when he hadn't yet been interested in girls in that romantic sort of way. But now Harry and Ginny had grown up, and their interests and worries had changed. 

Harry knew how hard it was on him having all these doubts and troubled thoughts regarding Voldemort, and even though he had possibly the two best friends in the whole world, he had never told them about those. Not even his godfather knew about this. But at least he had his friends to cheer him up when he was feeling sad. Ginny, on the other hand, probably had the same kind of feelings that she never shared with anyone but, unlike Harry, she didn't have friends like Ron and Hermione. Sure she had her brothers Ron, Fred and George, who could be occasionally found around her trying to cheer her up. But that was not the same as a best friend. A best friend knew when you needed to be cheered up, when you needed just company, and when you needed to be left alone, even though not knowing exactly what you were going through. And Ginny didn't have any of that. As far as Harry remembered, she didn't have any best friends. Of course she had friends, but none of them as close to her as Ron was to Harry. Not even Hermione, whom Harry regarded as a very good friend of Ginny, was that close to her. 

Harry could be the Boy Who Lived. But at that moment, and probably for the rest of his life, he would consider Ginny the Girl Who Lived. And he knew since that very moment that they would be closer than they had been the past three years, perhaps even more so than he realized. 

At that moment, Ron and Hermione entered the Burrow; their faces a little flustered, and jerked Harry out of his reverie, only to notice that Ginny had already left the living room. The three of them climbed the stairs and went to bed. 


	3. Blind Boys and Clever Girls - Chapter 3

Chapter 3 

On the following day, the twins woke Harry and Ron up very early in the morning, even before the girls were up. They had entered Ron's room and had already flopped down on his bed when Harry was finally able to open his eyes. He hadn't been able to sleep too much the night before, with so many thoughts running around his head after Ginny had talked to him. 

"So, Ron. How was the sky last night?" Fred asked his brother, a huge mischievous grin on his face. 

  
Ron seemed a little bit sleepy, and didn't answer right away. "Very...starry." 

Fred and George exchange amused glances, and Harry knew they had something up their sleeves. "Really? Fred and I wanted to gaze at the sky last night before we went to bed but we couldn't." George added, an almost innocent look on his face. Harry stifled a laugh. 

"Yeah, we couldn't see anything from our room's window because of all those clouds...But I'm sure you noticed the clouds, right little brother?" Fred winked at Ron, who was wide-awake by now, his face turning an interesting shade of red. 

"Fred, I'm beginning to think that Ron wasn't really looking at the stars last night." George seriously said to his twin brother. 

"Well, I don't blame him. He had better things to do, right Ronniekins?" The mischievous look on both the twin's faces was clear. Harry couldn't help but laugh loud and clear this time. 

"You were spying on us!" Ron said, hoarsely, his previously red face completely devoid of color. He had sat down on his bed during his brother's last comment, and he glanced angrily at Harry when he heard his best friend's laugh. 

George hesitated for a second, but quickly recovered. "Why would you think we were spying on you, little brother?" He said, a silly grin on his face. Then he added, looking more serious. "You _were looking at the stars last night, weren't you? I mean, you shouldn't be this worried or upset with us if you were just looking at the stars, like Hermione said you two would." He glanced at Fred and another grin started to spread on his face. "But then again, you couldn't see much with all those clouds last night...as a matter of fact, I'm sure the garden was quite dark. A perfect place to..." _

At that, Ron jumped from his bed. Harry thought the twins were in for a big fight. Sure, they were two, but Ron was taller than them, and he was very angry right now. And there was nothing that could stop Ron when he was angry at something or somebody. Well, almost nothing. But Hermione was sleeping at the moment, and wouldn't be able to hold him before he strangled his brothers. 

Fortunately for the twins, the only other person who could prevent Ron from beating up his brothers was already awake. Mrs. Weasley's called her family to have breakfast. The twins were fast and clever enough to run downstairs, as far away as possible from Ron. 

After breakfast, they went outside to play some more Quidditch. This time, after much insistence from Ron (especially towards Hermione) the girls joined them. They soon found out that Hermione being the cleverest witch on her year didn't make her a great flyer. As a matter of fact, she almost collapsed two times on the trees nearby, and almost fell off her broomstick another uncountable amount of times. But Ron kept grinning at her and telling her that she was doing great, much to the other Weasleys and Harry's amusement. They spent the whole day teasing Ron that Hermione was the one who should try for the Keeper position on the Gryffindor team. 

Ginny, on the other hand, was quite a good player, and Harry thought that she could be a wonderful Quidditch Chaser if she wanted. Of course, he wasn't about to say that aloud to any of her brothers, and it was even less likely that he would say that to her. Harry didn't want to think what she would think about him if he did. 

Later that morning, it started to rain, and they had to run to the house not to get too wet. That, of course, was useless because the storm was pretty bad, and they ended up wetting the whole living room. And they had to spend half of their afternoon, after having lunch, drying and cleaning the room. After their job was done, they spent the other half of the afternoon playing Exploding Snap. 

With dinner time also came Mr. Weasley, who looked very grim despite his attempts to pretend that everything was alright (well, as alright as possible with Voldermort back), and whenever one of the children tried to gather something about the current situation, he started talking about something else, like the weather or how good the food tasted that evening. Harry had a sneaking suspicion that Mrs. Weasley probably had had a little chat with her husband the night before about how inappropriate it was to tell the children anything that reminded them that the Dark Lord was back. Not that Harry needed any reminding of that. 

The rest of the week went by without any extraordinary thing happening (at least not extraordinary for the wizarding world's standards). They spent their last summer holidays days playing Quidditch all day, trying to gather some information from Mr. Weasley at dinner, and then collapsing into bed exhausted. 

Or at least Harry thought so. But he was unaware that not all of them fell asleep as readily as the others did when they went to bed, despite being completely exhausted or just a bit tired.

On almost every night Ron wasn't able to sleep right away. Instead, he would lie down, facing the wall with his back towards Harry, and wonder about the first kiss he and Hermione had shared, on the night of the Yule Ball. 

It had been so unexpected, and yet so...right. Even after so many thoughts about it, Ron wasn't able to decide who had been more startled by their kiss. Sure, he was the one who had grabbed Hermione by the shoulders and pressed his lips fervently to hers, but he hadn't realized what he was about to do until he was actually doing it. Ron had felt like a bunch of fairies were flying inside his stomach, but it wasn't a bad feeling. It had felt more like a warm, fuzzy, good feeling. His legs, though, were trembling. Ron had even wondered if he had been cursed with the Jelly Leg curse. And then, without any kind of warning, Hermione had stepped away from him, her cheeks flushed, and had run to her dormitory. 

Ron had stood there for a moment, trying to remember everything that had just happened in detail, while still trying to believe that it had indeed really happened. He had never kissed a girl before, and he had no idea of how he knew what he was supposed to do. But it had been great. Bloody brilliant. Sometimes, even now, he still had urges to pinch himself and make sure that all of it hadn't been just a dream. 

Of course, the days following the Yule Ball had been a nightmare. He couldn't stand being near Hermione without touching her, and kissing her. Even though he wasn't ready to admit out loud that he was head over heels for Hermione, he knew deep down inside his heart that he loved her. The only thing he could do to prevent himself to jump on her was to treat her coldly, formally, like nothing had happened. It had been pure torture. 

Fortunately, Hermione was a very clever, determined and passionate girl, and she had decided to confront Ron about his feelings towards her. It had been after Harry had left the common room to find out about the Third Task. She had waited until everyone else had went to bed and finally spoke to Ron, who was sitting across from her on the table near the common room fire. 

6 

_"Ron, we need to talk." She had said, during a Wizard Chess game they were playing. It had been the only thing Ron could come up with to prevent him from jumping on her and kissing her while waiting for Harry. When he was concentrating on Wizard Chess, he didn't lose himself in the depths of her brown eyes; at least not too much or for too long. _

_"Aren't we doing that right now?" Ron had snorted, while analyzing the next move that would lead him to a checkmate and victory. _

_Hermione had rolled her eyes. "You know what I mean. Can I ask you a question? _

_Ron had looked up at her, a lopsided grin on his face. "When people talk, they usually ask questions and tell answers to each other." _

_"Ron! I'm serious." Hermione had looked really determined, so Ron pushed the Chessboard aside. "Okay, go ahead." _

_After a second's hesitation, she blurted out. "Why were you so upset about the Witch Weekly __article today?" _

_Ron had been caught off guard, and started racking his brain for a plausible answer, which fortunately came. "Well, that Skeeter woman had said pretty nasty things about you, and that made me upset. You are one of my best friends, after all." He said, a look of triumph on his face. _

_Hermione's face was still set. "You know that wasn't the only reason." She had hesitated for a second. "You were also upset about the fact that Viktor had invited me to Bulgaria. And don't tell me it was because I was 'fraternizing with the enemy', I don't believe it." _

_Ron's face had gone very pale, while his ears were bright red. "Then we have a problem, because that's the only reason I can give you for my actions today." _

_"I don't think so. I think you're only hiding the real reason you're upset about Viktor's invitation behind a lame excuse." Hermione had gone very red when saying the last sentence. _

_"Yeah? If you know that much, why wouldn't you know the real reason then? Why am I so upset?" Then it was Ron's turn to have his face completely red, in a perfect match for his hair color. _

_"Because...because...because you __fancy__ me." Hermione's face was even redder if possible. But since she had said it, it was better to be properly done, so she added, almost whispering, "And I __fancy__ you__ too__." _

_"You...you __like__ me?" Ron couldn't believe his own ears. _

_"Yes." She had said, looking straight into his eyes. _

_At that, a huge grin had almost split Ron's face in two. He had quickly gotten up from his chair, around the table, and swept Hermione into his arms, kissing her. _

6 

And with those happy and sweet memories on his head, Ron would finally drift off to sleep, almost forgetting the dark times in front of them. But when Ron remembered that the Dark Lord was back, he felt really worried about the future. At least he could feel happy that he had finally acknowledged his feelings towards Hermione before anything bad could happen to either one of them. 

But that didn't stop Ron from worrying about Harry. And Ron did so every night, and almost every time of the day. 

However, Harry never suspected anything. He was so preoccupied noticing Ginny and how much she had grown since he had met her that a Hippogriff wearing a dress robe could have tap danced in front of him that he wouldn't have noticed. 

And since Ron and Hermione sometimes disappeared for long periods of time (until they were found snogging by the twins), Harry and Ginny talked during long periods of time. And he felt so at ease with her that he told her all about his adventures during the end of every term he had attended on Hogwarts (except the end of his second year, since Ginny was also there herself). One night he actually told her everything that had happened on the night of the Third Task, something he hadn't even told Ron or Hermione with so much detail. He even revealed to her that Sirius Black was his godfather, and that it had been in fact Peter Pettigrew who had betrayed his parents, not Sirius. Peter was, therefore, responsible for Lily and James Potter's deaths. 

It was on the night before they were to go to King's Cross Station and take the Hogwarts Express that the bubble of safety they had unconsciously erected around themselves vanished. 

Mr. Weasley had Apparated for work very early in the morning, like he did everyday, followed closely by Percy, Ron's older brother. But he Apparated back home earlier than usual, and quickly summoned Mrs. Weasley into their bedroom, where they discussed something in hushed voices during a couple of hours. 

When they finally left their bedroom, they both looked very grim. The rest of the family, Harry and Hermione were called to gather around the dinner table, and when they were all on their seats, Mr. Weasley stood. 

"Children, I have something very important to tell you." He looked at each preoccupied face around the table, ending with his wife. "Molly didn't want me to reveal this piece of information to you, but since I'm sure that Dumbledore will do so as soon as you enter the Great Hall tomorrow night, I see no reason not to tell you this." 

He sighed. "Azkaban is no longer under the Ministry's command. The Dementors have aligned themselves with the Dark Lord, and released all prisoners. Including the Death Eaters." 

Later, when Harry would try to remember what had happened after Mr. Weasley's revelation, he would only remember pieces of it. He remembered the uproar made by the Weasleys' boys, especially the twins. They all wanted to know exactly what had happened and what the Ministry thought it would happen next; and if now the Ministry was finally going to admit to the entire wizarding world that the Dark Lord was back. 

After what seemed like hours of unanswered questions, and discussion revolving around the same points without getting to any conclusion, they had all eaten their dinner in silence, everybody deep in thought, an amazing accomplishment at the Burrow. Then they had gone to their rooms to finish packing their trunks before they went to bed. Neither of them was able to get too much sleep that night. 

On the following day, they all went to King's Cross Station and climbed the Hogwarts Express uncharacteristically sad, despite all the happiness emanating from the other students, especially the first years. 

The whole trip to Hogwarts was all but a blur to Harry. The only thing that he remembered vividly from that day was Dumbledore's speech at the Great Hall. After the usual greetings to the students, which had been said in an unusual grave voice, Dumbledore had reminded them of the past's years events that had culminated with Cedric's death and Voldemort's return, and used the opportunity to also tell them about the Dementors newly formed alliance with the Dark Lord, which came as a surprise to almost all the other students. The Slytherins, however, remained calm and quiet, which came as no surprise to Harry. After all, Lord Voldemort himself had been a Slytherin, and this House had turned out more Dark Wizards than the other Houses. After the noise had died down, Dumbledore finished his speech telling them that this year was going to be a rough one, but that hopefully they would survive it. However, Harry couldn't detect a hopeful tone on Dumbledore's voice. He only hoped to be wrong, because if Dumbledore had lost all his hope, they were doomed. 


	4. Blind Boys and Clever Girls - Chapter 4

Chapter 4 

The first week back at Hogwarts went by as normally as possible with Lord Voldemort's constant threat looming over their heads. Their classes were as good as always, except Professor Binns' History of Magic class, which surprisingly had managed to achieve a new level of boredom. Professor McGonagall was as strict as ever, Professor Snape was even nastier than the previous year (although Harry thought he looked considerably paler), and they had a new Defense against the Dark Arts teacher. 

Well, at least she was new to the other students; she was Harry's old neighbor Mrs. Arabella Figg. Harry had suspected she was a witch after Dumbledore had mentioned her name after the ordeal Harry went through during the Third Task, and his suspicions were confirmed when they entered the Defense against the Dark Arts class to have their first lesson. 

The moment Harry stepped into the room he was greeted by the old woman with a smile. She asked him about his relatives and apologized for never telling Harry the truth about their magical powers. But Dumbledore had told her that Harry was not supposed to know anything about the magical world until the day the Hogwarts letter arrived telling him he had been accepted at the school. 

He brushed the comment aside, knowing deep down inside him that he would have never believed the old neighbor who sometimes was his babysitter (and spent the whole time he was at her house showing him cat's pictures) that he was a wizard. He had to grin at the thought that nevertheless he would have believed that she was a witch, but not in a good way, and definitely not in a magical way. 

It was a week after the start of term that their worst fears came to life. Harry had felt his scar hurt during the whole day, and had been really worried. His scar only hurt when Lord Voldemort was feeling particularly murderous. 

They were having dinner at the Great Hall, when a familiar figure entered the Hall and directed himself towards the teacher's table, followed closely by a huge black dog. Remus Lupin and Sirius Black. 

Last year Dumbledore had requested Sirius Black to contact Remus, as well as Mrs. Figg and Mundungus Fletcher, who Harry now noted had also entered the Hall with Professor Lupin. Mundungus Fletcher was a wizard whom Harry had met twice in his life, and who always seemed really pleased to be able to see and talk to him. But he definitely didn't seem pleased right now. 

They directed themselves, followed closely by Sirius, towards Professor Dumbledore, who was already on his feet when they finally reached the table. They whispered for a second or two in hushed tones and directed themselves to a room at the back of the teacher's table, followed soon afterwards by Professor McGonagall and Snape. 

After about half an hour, during the desserts, they came back from that room, all looking more serious than they had before leaving the Great Hall. Professor Dumbledore raised his wand in the air and shot some sparks to gather the students' attention. 

When they were all quiet, Dumbledore spoke in a very grim voice. "My dear students, I have very bad news to you. Apparently the Dementors are approaching our school with the intent of attacking us." At that, a lot of the students gasped, but Harry had the distinct feeling that not one gasp came from the Slytherin table, where he could see Draco Malfoy, another fifth year student, with a very smug face. Harry suspected that since Draco's father, Lucius Malfoy, was a Death Eater, he already knew about Voldemort's plans. Dumbledore was speaking again. "Therefore I'd like you to remain calm and follow the Prefects and the Head Boy and Girl straight to your common rooms, where your Head of House will give you further instructions." 

The reason why Professor Dumbledore had summoned Professor Lupin and Mundungus Fletcher was very clear at that moment. They had been monitoring Voldemort's moves for Dumbledore. 

Ron and Hermione quickly got up along with the other students when Dumbledore stopped talking, but Harry didn't. When they asked him what was going on, he never answered, a thoughtful expression on his face. And although Hermione had a very bad feeling about this, as a Prefect, she needed to get the younger students into the common room, and they were so nervous that she asked Ron to help her. Unwilling to leave his friend alone when he looked so preoccupied with something, Ron reluctantly started helping Hermione and soon they had left the Great Hall with the younger students. 

What they didn't know was that a very important decision was beginning to take shape inside Harry's head, and when he finally got up he directed himself towards Professor Dumbledore, who was talking quietly at the teachers' table with Lupin and the others. 

"Professor, I want to help defend Hogwarts from the Dementors." Harry said, a determined tone attached to his voice and to his face. Sirius barked loudly at Harry, a worried look in his dog's eyes. 

Dumbledore looked at Harry, a twinkle of surprise or maybe admiration on his eyes. Before he could answer, however, Snape spoke. "Don't be absurd, Potter. This is something that has to be dealt by fully grown and trained wizards." 

"I think Harry could help, though." Professor Lupin spoke, looking deeply into Harry's eyes, seeing there the same kind of determination he often had seen in James' eyes. "Hi, Harry. How have you been?" 

"Fine." Harry said automatically, like he always did on this kind of situation when he was everything but fine. Then he rushed into talk, before any of them could stop him. "Professor Lupin, I want to help. I know how to conjure up a Patronus, and you said yourself that it's harder to conjure one when there are lots of Dementors around. So I figured that it would be better if you could get as many help as possible to conjure up as many Patronus as you could against them." 

"Harry is right. We could use his help. After all there are hundreds of Dementors out there and just me and Remus to conjure up Patronus." Dumbledore finally spoke. 

Harry was confused, and momentarily forgot his respect towards the teachers as a student. "I don't understand. Only you two will conjure up Patronus?" 

"Yes, Harry. You see, conjuring up a Patronus is a very hard and advanced magic spell that only a handful of wizards can do. If it wasn't so, the Dementors wouldn't be so great as prison guards." Dumbledore explained. 

"I want to help too." A new and yet familiar voice spoke from Harry's back. He turned around to see Ginny stand right behind him. She took a few steps and positioned herself to Harry's left. "I can also conjure up a Patronus." 

At that statement Harry could definitely see a surprised look on Dumbledore's face, as well as on the other faces around them. Except, of course, on Professor Lupin's face. Professor Snape was the first to speak. "Virginia Weasley conjuring up a Patronus? I don't think so." He sneered. 

"Actually, she can conjure up a very powerful Patronus. In fact, one of the most powerful Patronus I've ever seen." At that last sentence, Professor Lupin's eyes fell on Harry, who wondered if he was referring to his own Patronus but quickly disregarded the thought. He was surely imagining things. 

Dumbledore thought for a few minutes. During that time, Harry wondered about the risks that Ginny would be facing if Dumbledore actually allowed her to go with them. Sure, they were the same risks he would be facing, but Harry didn't mind risking his own life. Ginny risking her life, however, was a whole other matter, and Harry felt a strange feeling of protectiveness towards her. And looking at his feelings a little deeper, he realized he wasn't feeling just protectiveness towards her and blushed. 

However Lupin's hand on his right shoulder jerked him away from his revealing and rather troubling thoughts. Harry looked up at him and saw a little smile tugging on his lips. Harry wondered why, but before he could reach an answer, Dumbledore spoke. "Miss Weasley, if you are sure about it, you can come and help us." 

Before McGonagall could argue it, something Harry was sure she was going to do by the look on her face, Dumbledore began telling her and the other Heads of the Hogwarts houses that they were supposed to go to and talk to their students. 

At that moment, Harry noticed that Professor Lupin had squatted down next to Sirius, and was whispering to him in a very low voice, that the others couldn't hear. "You can go to the Gryffindor common room and stay with Hermione and Ron. I don't think that the Dementors alliance with Voldemort have made them forget that you were the only one to escape Azkaban, and I'm sure they would want to reward you with a Dementors' Kiss for that. The last time you met the Dementors, they somehow recognized you in your Animagus form, and I don't think I want to learn exactly how they did that if it means putting you in danger." 

Sirius gave Lupin a sad look an after a moment's hesitation left, soon afterwards McGonagall, Snape and the others had left. Dumbledore turned to Professor Lupin, Harry and Ginny. "Let's go then. We can't waste too much time." 

When they reached the Hogwarts grounds, they stopped near the foot of the staircase that leads to the castle. From left to right stood Professor Dumbledore, Ginny, Harry and Professor Lupin, all of them with their wands ready for action. Harry glanced at Ginny for a moment, expecting to find her fidgeting and nervous but, surprisingly, she stood firm as a statue, her stare fixed on the gates. He smiled at that and felt himself blushing once more despite the seriousness of the situation. After all, they were soon to be attacked by Lord Voldemort's servants. 

They didn't have to wait for too long. Pretty soon, they could see the Dementors approaching the Hogwarts' gates. Fortunately they couldn't see any Death Eater or the Dark Lord himself nearby. Harry started to feel coldness spreading through his body, and he gripped his wand harder. 

Soon the Dementors had managed to tear down the gates, though Harry didn't know how. Dumbledore raised his wand, telling the others to wait for his command, and the others mimicked his gesture. 

When a good portion of the Dementors where already past the gate, in a closer range to their spells, Dumbledore yelled, "Now!" 

"_Expecto Patronum!" Harry had the impression that the four of them could be heard through the entire ground and perhaps even a good portion of the castle. _

Harry looked at his right and saw a silvery thing shooting from Professor Lupin's wand. He had never really knew what exactly was Lupin's Patronus, since the only time he used it Harry had been unconscious. But looking at it at that moment Harry had the impression that it looked like moonlighting, and whenever a Dementor got close to it, they seemed to be suffocated by it. 

Harry's own Patronus was a personification of his father's Animagus form, a stag called Prongs. When Harry looked at it, he smiled sadly. The Patronus flickered for a brief moment, but when Harry remembered the bliss he felt the first time he had ever conjured up a proper Patronus and had thought it had actually been his father who had done so, the Patronus gained new strengh. True, in reality it had been a future version of himself that had traveled in time using a Time-Turner and conjured the Patronus up, but that didn't diminsh the joy Harry had felt at that time. 

Still looking at his Patronus, Harry noticed it was moving to his left, towards a young boy with unruly black hair, green eyes behind round glasses, and a lightning bolt shaped scar on his forehead. 

Harry was puzzled for a moment, and wondered if it could possible be another future version of himself when if finally dawned on him. 

It was Ginny's Patronus. 

He glanced at her, and their eyes met briefly before she looked away, blushing a deep shade of red. Harry marveled at how cute she looked when she was embarrassed, before he shook his head to clear it of such thoughts. That was definitely not the time for those. 

He looked at their Patronus, who were by then near each other. He watched as Ginny's Patronus climbed on his own Patronus back, and rode towards Professor Dumbledore. 

Following their Patronus with their eyes, Ginny and Harry noticed for the first time what Professor Dumbledore had conjured up as a Patronus. It was a sword that Harry recognized as Godric Gryffindor's. The same sword Harry had used to kill the Basilisk back in his second year at Hogwarts. 

As soon as Prongs had reached the sword, Ginny's Patronus caught it and held it over his and Prongs' heads. Then Prongs turned into the direction of the Dementors and rode as fast as he could towards them. Harry and Ginny watched in disbelief as their Patronus rode through the crowd of Dementors, sweeping and slashing the sword at them. 

With that, the Dementors advance towards the Hogwarts castle slowed down considerably. But they still continued to advance towards it and didn't turn away. There were too many of them to keep under control. 

Harrry started to dread the outcome of this battle, and coldness once again started sweeping through his body. A quick glance at Ginny and he could see his own fear mirrored on her eyes. He took her right hand with his left one and squeezed it, trying to relay to her some of the confidence he didn't really feel. 

Then, they suddenly heard what sounded like hundreds of yells coming from the Forbidden Forest. For a moment, Harry was afraid of who or what could be responsible for that. 

In the next moment, however, he was relieved. From the Forbidden Forest appeared hundreds of Giants, commanded by Hagrid, the Hogwarts half-Giant groundskeeper. Harry knew Professor Dumbledore had sent Hagrid on a secret mission after last term. At that moment it seemed to Harry that this had been in fact a diplomatic mission sent to the Giants, which had culminated on an alliance against Lord Voldemort. 

The Dementors, who were being held-off by the four Patronus, soon found themselves being attacked from behind by the Giants. Pretty soon they couldn't advance anymore because they needed to focus their attention towards the Giants, who outnumbered them. 

After a little longer, they finally realized they were fighting a losing battle, and started to flee. And then, only after an hour of battle the last ones were either killed or driven away into the Forbidden Forest and its many dangers by the Giants and the Patronus. 

When it was all over, Harry ran towards Hagrid, without realizing he was dragging Ginny along with him. "Hagrid!" 

"'Arry!" Hagrid yelled, and pulled both Harry and Ginny into a bear hug. They told Hagrid he had been great fighting with the Dementors, making him blush a bit. Hagrid, in turn, asked what they were doing there conjuring up Patronus. After all, he and Dumbledore had already made a plan for a possible attack from Voldemort, and the Giants had hid themselves in the Forbidden Forest for a surprise counter-attack. So he told them they shouldn't have done it, because it had been too dangerous. But he had to admit that he was impressed by their courage. It was only after they had assured him over and over again that they were alright, though, that he allowed them to go back to the castle. 

After checking with Professor Dumbledore that their help was no longer needed, they got up the staircase to the castle, mentally and even physically exhausted after having conjured up the Patronus for so long. On their way inside the castle, they passed through many teachers that were going to the grounds in order to help clean the mess after the battle. 

Once they had climbed a number of staircases and passed through secret passages, they reached the entrance to the Gryffindor common room, which was closed by the picture of a Fat Lady in a pink dress. Before they entered it, though, Harry pulled Ginny's hand, which he still was holding, and they stood facing each other. 

And, without warning and without any coherent thought, Harry leaned down and pressed his lips gently onto Ginny's. She was surprised for a second, but then returned the kiss. When they pulled apart, Harry whispered, "That was for the courage you showed tonight." 

Ginny smiled and squeezed Harry's hand. They faced the Fat Lady and before telling her the password and entering the room they wondered about all the questions they would face once they had entered it. 

But that didn't matter to either of them. They had each other to look for support. 

***

A/N: When I first wrote this fic, a few months ago, it was supposed to end here, at chapter 4. But after so many re-writings, and ideas given by many friends and beta-readers (combined with some of my own restless plot-bunnies), I decided that it just can't end here. So, since I'm planning on writing quite a BIG fic (and I don't want to write in a hurry and ruin it) I will probably put it on hold for a while. But don't worry, I have some plot-bunnies that are not related to this fic, and I will write and post all of them in the meantime. I just hope you guys liked this fic enough to wait for what's coming next! In the meantime, why don't you review what I've written so far? :)

TheRealMaraJade 


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